Telecom Services
Airtel tries to stop new players to enter telecom market
NEW DELHI: Former telecom minister A Raja has alleged that former Comptroller and auditor general (CAG) Vinod Rai was a “contract killer” hired to kill the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government and called for his prosecution for “abusing” the power and “cheating” the nation.
Raja went on to say that some forces were working against the UPA and for that they used Rai as a tool.
“Vinod Rai should be prosecuted for cheating and abuse of power… (he) was a contract killer… His shoulder was used to kill UPA 2,” Raja said during a media interaction following the launch of his book “2G Saga Unfolds”.
The then Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Rai came out with a report in 2010 which pegged notional loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore to the national exchequer due to 2G spectrum allocation in 2008 when Mr Raja was the telecom minister.
“Some forces wanted to kill UPA 2 for which Vinod Rai was used as the gun,” Raja said.
The former telecom minister said that the Supreme Court got carried away with that CAG report and cancelled 2G telecom licences.
Raja accused Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal of conspiring against him to stop new telecom players from entering the market so as to maintain a cartel of a handful of service providers.
He, however, praised former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “Because of protection and patronage given by him I was able to break cartel when tariff came down and teledensity went up. He (the former PM) wanted spectrum to be made available for public use,” Mr Raja said.
The mobile tariff during Mr Raja’s tenure came down to 25 paise per minute from the range of Rs. 2-4 a minute.
Raja said that he met Dr Singh for half an hour and gave him a copy of book. The former telecom minister, who was recently cleared by the CBI court of all the charges, said, “He (Dr Singh) deeply regretted whatever happened to me. He nearly broke down. I will disclose what went between us at an appropriate time.”
Raja said there were differences among the cabinet ministers on the spectrum allocation issue.
He said that Mittal approached courts against spectrum allocation but failed and also went to the then PM and law minister but again failed to get anything. Mittal “wanted to stall proceedings of my government,” Raja said adding that contradictions came from within the UPA ministers and there were instances to prove it.
The former telecom minister said objections were raised by the finance ministry and the then Union Cabinet minister Kamal Nath wrote an open letter to Dr Singh that the matter should be sent to the group of ministers.
Stating that the BJP benefited from the 2G controversy,Raja, however, ruled out any possibility of alignment with the BJP.
“We are for secularism. We will go with secular forces. Any change will be decided by the leadership,” Raja said. The book “2G Saga unfolds” was released by former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah.
“The principal of natural justice was not adhered by institutions. Ultimately injustice was done to me not only by individuals but the institutions like CVC (Central Vigilance Commission), CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), CAG, parliament and sorry to say with due to respect to judiciary, even the Supreme Court,” Raja said.
Also, he accused media of biased reporting by repeatedly citing documents and instances that accused him. But, the same media, Raja said, did not show his reply to the CBI during court proceedings which went on for 14 days.
NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel, India’s telecommunications services provider, today announced the launch of its ultra-fast 5G services in 125 cities. Airtel 5G Plus service is now available to customers in over 265 cities in the country.
Airtel 5G Plus has three compelling advantages for customers. First, it runs on a technology that has the widest acceptance in the world with the most developed ecosystem. This ensures that all 5G smartphones in India seamlessly work on the Airtel network. Second, the company promises to deliver the best experience – between 20 to 30 times higher speeds than today coupled with brilliant voice experience and super-fast call connect. Finally, Airtel 5G Plus network will also be kinder to the environment with its special power reduction solution. Powered by the reliable Airtel network infrastructure, Airtel 5G Plus will provide superfast access to High-Definition video streaming, gaming, multiple chatting, instant uploading of photos et all.
Commenting on the launch, Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel said, “5G has revolutionized the world of internet, ushering new era of connectivity and communications that will prove to be a game-changer for the country. At Airtel, we remain committed to delivering the highest quality of network and service to our customers as we roll-out 125 more cities today. Airtel was the first in the country to offer 5G services in October 2022, and today’s mega launch is our promise to connect every Airtel customer in the country with ultra-fast Airtel 5G Plus. Our 5G rollout is on track to cover all towns and key rural areas by March 2024.”
Airtel 5G Plus service availability will continue to rapidly expand – including service in all towns and villages in the country soon – as the company is working towards offering nationwide coverage. Airtel is now offering its 5G services in every major city from the upper northern city of Jammu to the southern tip of Kanyakumari.
In the last one year, Airtel has demonstrated the power of 5G with a host of powerful use cases that will change the way customers lead their lives and do business. From India’s first live 5G network in Hyderabad to India’s first private 5G network at the BOSCH facility in Bengaluru to partnering with Mahindra & Mahindra to make its Chakan manufacturing facility, India’s first 5G enabled auto manufacturing unit, Airtel has been at the forefront of 5G innovation.
NEW DELHI: Comviva, a global leader in customer experience and data monetization solutions today announced the launch of its 5G compatible Application Driven Network Platform, ADriN to offer a unified, simplified, secured experience to the B2B2X value chain of Digital Service Providers, Enterprises, Hyperscalers, application developers and the smart device ecosystem.
Comviva’s ADriN platform boasts dynamic capabilities that allow it to understand the behavior of connected devices in real-time. This enables the platform to orchestrate and deliver personalized, intent-driven experiences in a secured and controlled environment, regardless of the underlying experience providers – DSPs, Enterprises and Hyperscalers.
Excited at this development, Comviva CEO, Manoranjan (Mao) Mohapatra said, “At Comviva, we prioritize creating unique experiences for our customers’ end-users to remain relevant. Our commitment to deeper customer engagement and significant investments has led to the development of ADriN, a platform that simplifies the user experience in the untapped B2B2X segment. With new engagement models centered around ARR and Network-as-a-Service, ADriN is positioned to become a critical contributor to any experience provider’s top-line growth.”
ADriN simplifies the process of capturing and understanding the intentions of end customers of enterprises and digital service providers. It offers an easy-to-use interface that delivers a trusted and secure service experience. Using ADriN, intentions are captured and processed through machine learning applications across various devices, which in turn creates a real-time service catalogue. This enables networks and infrastructures to respond in a specific manner to ever-changing intentions.
This creates lucrative monetization opportunity for the custodians of the B2B2X value chain with the adoption of ARR models, such as Network-as-a-Service. The monetization opportunity is highly attributed to the intents captured from the end consumer’s devices or machines or interface through their simple native language. ADriN effectively processes and converts this intent into open call models and open APIs, which seamlessly integrate into the ecosystem. This orchestration results in a personalized experience for the consumer, without the need to worry about the network custodians they are connected to, be it G network or other networks.,
Speaking at the launch, Swapnil Shah, Vice President for 5G and Edge Business Group at Comviva said, “ADriN has received strong validation in recent time from niche ecosystem players like digital service providers, enterprises and hyperscalers. With the growing popularity of AI-based operations, ML-driven devices, and application developer communities, ADriN is poised to make a distinct impact on the B2X and B2B2X value chains in the coming years. The collaborative efforts of CAMARA, 5G PPP, ORAN, TIP, 5G ACIA, GSMA Op, ETSI, 3GPP, VEPP, and DSPs have also contributed to democratizing organic networks for developers, while government-driven initiatives have paved the way for an intent-driven future.”
ADriN utilizes an ecosystem agnostic platform approach to comprehensively understand the intention of devices. It dynamically creates policy configurations, marketplace operations, generates slices, and performs numerous other functions over a nimble service engine that seamlessly interacts with infrastructure, hyperscaler, and network functions. The platform is highly flexible, enabling it to meet the unique needs of diverse ecosystems.
NEW DELHI: Apple Inc has rolled out a beta programme to enable 5G on Apple devices as the upgrade lets users try out pre-release software.
This software upgrade enables 5G access on Apple devices, as and when service providers Jio, Airtel and Vodafone enable 5G network access, sources said.
Apple Users have to enrol for the Beta Programme on the website, install a profile and download the software.
Jio users using iPhone 12 and above, in cities where JioTrue5G has been rolled out, will be invited to the Jio Welcome Offer. Jio Welcome Offer provides unlimited 5G data at up to 1 Gbps speed to users at no additional cost. However, there is a condition that prepaid users must be on active Rs 239 and above plan. All Postpaid users are eligible for this trial.
Airtel is not providing any special 5G offer like Jio to their users. In the cities/areas in which the Airtel 5G network has been launched, users can trial 5G services as a part of their existing plan, once they have updated the latest Apple Beta software.
While an email sent to Apple did not solicit an immediate response, the firm had last month stated: “We are working with our carrier partners in India to bring the best 5G experience to iPhone users as soon as network validation and testing for quality and performance is completed. 5G will be enabled via a software update and will start rolling out to iPhone users in December”.
Airtel and Jio customers on iPhone 14, iPhone 13, iPhone 12 and iPhone SE (3rd generation) models can experience 5G as part of Apple’s iOS 16 Beta Software Program. The Apple Beta Software Program is open to anyone with a valid Apple ID who accepts the Apple Beta Software Program Agreement during the sign-up process.
If a user has an iCloud account, that is an Apple ID, it is recommended they use that. If they do not have an iCloud account or any other Apple ID, they can create one.
Customers who want to try the beta software should back up their iPhones before installing the beta software. It is recommended to install the beta software only on non-production devices that are not business-critical. Users can also provide feedback to Apple on quality and usability, which helps Apple identify issues, fix them, and make Apple software even better.
The iOS beta comes with the built-in Feedback Assistant app, which can be opened from the Home screen on the iPhone or iPad or from the Dock on the Mac.
Source: Press Trust of India
